“I Plight Thee My Troth” marshmallows. 
Rose, passionfruit, and vanilla.
A Seal for the Serendib Press
This was just fun. I got me and Kavi a present for Christmas — a little seal with the Serendib Press logo (that she drew) on it, a little cooking pot with stars floating up.
We’re giving people the option of ordering one of our Valentine’s cards to go with their orders (we’d write whatever message they wanted in the card), and I think it’s silly fun to seal those with our emblem, and then highlight the design in silver leaf.
If I were doing it again, the one thing I’d do is add a circle around the edge of the design, because the little stars are so small that they kind of disappear as an element — I think this effect works better with an intricate design with a lot of raised elements. But still, v. cute. When I was around her age, I was a little obsessed with seals and sealing wax. I think I mostly liked playing with fire.
Anand came over to help me do this, and had many questions about why we don’t use seals anymore as proof that something is really from someone else. I think the answer is that it eventually got cheap enough to create and engrave seals that they became too easy to forge, but I’m not positive that’s right?
Wrapping Up Orders
Wrapping up an order for local pick-up — or possibly drop-off, as I’m going to be running around doing errands tomorrow.
Passionfruit Gummies
(makes about 250 teeny tiny gummies)
Super-easy, super-cute. Passionfruit puree, which I order online, is thick and intensely flavored, which is why I end up diluting it with water for these gummies. If you’re using juice, then just use 2 cups of juice and no water.
1 c. passionfruit puree
1 c. water
3 T (1.25 oz packet) plain gelatin
1/4 c. sugar (optional)
1. Combine passionfruit and water in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high a few minutes until hot (alternately, heat in a pot on the stove).
2. Stir in gelatin and sugar (if using) until dissolved.
3. Pour into gummy mold and chill one hour until set. (Alternately, pour into pie plates, and cut into squares or use a cookie cutter.)
NOTE: These store best in the refrigerator; after a few days at room temperature, they tend to dry out.
Your Vegan Cupboard
Question for vegans — as I’m working on Vegan Serendib, I’m mostly just creating recipes that are already vegan in nature — vegetable pickles, sambols, curries, etc. BUT, I’d like to include at least a few using specifically vegan ingredients, such as agar-agar, used to substitute for gelatin.
I could just buy a bunch of different things and try them, but I’d like to stay as much as possible to ingredients that are easy to get for the home cook.
Tell me about your vegan cupboard — what do you typically have on hand already? Vegan butter? Agar-agar? What else?
Thanks!
